From Darkness Rises
by Crazysaxgirl
Summary: Kari doesn't like her powers. They are, without a doubt, the worst thing that has ever happened to her. The things she's done because of them-she won't ever forgive herself. So when she's sent to Bone Academy to learn to control her powers, she's dreading the worst. Especially after what her cousin Manfred used to tell her... Takes place a few years after the final book. R&R!


A/N: Hey, everyone! This is my first ever fanfic, so if it's really bad, I'm sorry. Please read & review. Criticism is welcome, but be nice about. If you really hate it, then just click the back button and forget about it. No FLAMING!

Ps. In this, Charlie is 17, so is Emma, Olivia, Fidelio, and Gabriel. Lysander and Tancred are 18. Billy is 14. Kari is the same age as Charlie.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE RED KING UNIVERSE, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS, OR ANY OF THE PLACES! JENNY NIMO DOES, I DO NOT! PLEASE DO NOT SUE ME OR SOMETHING.

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Kari stared up at the huge school in front of her. A boarding school. 1,000 miles away from her home. Just because of her 'special powers'. Why did she have to be here, why not somewhere else? She'd heard that _freaks_ came here.

She walked up the stone steps slowly, as if her lack of speed could somehow keep her from having to go into the actual building. She was put into the musical department, because she played the alto sax…apparently she was a prodigy or something. Whatever. They'd told her that during her classes and all that, she'd have to wear a blue cape. _Jeez, do they really want us to hate them? I mean, who wears capes?_

A girl in a purple cape rushed past her, giggling. Her hair was made up of so many different colors; it looked like her head was a rainbow. She was yelling over her shoulder, "Come on, Emma, hurry!"

"Hold on, Liv, you're going too fast. We said we'd meet Charlie and Gabriel on the steps, remember?" A small blonde girl in a green cape was standing at the bottom of the steps, holding a suitcase in front of her.

The purple cape girl-_She must be one of the drama students,_ Kari thought- frowned, but grudgingly went to stand by the blonde girl. After just a few silent moments, the rainbow-headed girl was talking.

"Soooo…is it true? What Charlie said? There's gonna be a new endowed student? I hope she's cool. I wonder if she'll be in drama. I mean, hopefully she's not evil like Manfred and all those other dorks were, and what if she's like, I don't know, eight?" She kept rattling on, until the blonde girl slipped a hand over her mouth.

"Liv, Charlie's right here." It was true. A dark haired boy was striding up towards them, a mischievous smile on his face. A tall thin boy with mousy brown hair and gray eyes walked next him, and his clothes seemed to be brand new.

"Hi, girls." The dark haired boy grinned at them. "Have you seen her yet?"

"The new endowed girl? No. Liv and I were just talking about that. Did your parents tell you anything?" The blonde girl murmured softly.

"I know she's a musician, she's our age, and she's got red-brownish hair. That's it."

"They didn't tell you what her endowment is?"

"No, they helpfully neglected mentioning that."

Everybody in the little group laughed.

Kari thought their words over, until she finally realized who they were talking about. Her.

_Are they…are they like me? Do my 'special powers' make me endowded? _She turned away quickly, hustling to get away from the 'freaks' like her. Kari was almost through the doors when she heard the guy, Charlie, say "My parents said I'm supposed to lead her around today, so she learns the ropes. I should probably be in the Entrance Hall by now, that's where we're going to meet her. Wanna come?"

_Oh crap, I was supposed to be there by now! _She speed-walked to the couple that stood in the middle of the hall. "Mr. and Mrs. Bone, hi." She huffed. _Well that was good first impression, just running up and gasping for breath, all doubled over. Perfect, just perfect._

Mrs. Bone laughed, "You are Kariana Garth, correct? Are you okay, hon'? You seem…out of breath."

Kari gave a weak smile, "Just a bit. And you can call me Kari."

Mr. Bone shook her hand. "Welcome to Bone Academy, Kari. Our son will be here soon, he'll be showing you around, no doubt with all his friends in tow."

"Oh, that'll…that'll be uh, great!" She murmured. Kari was pretty sure that the Bone's noticed her uneasiness, but they didn't remark on it.

"Mom, Dad! Is that her?" The boy Charlie was jogging over to them, his little gaggle of friends tagging along behind him. The blonde girl was giving her a small, welcoming smile. Miss Rainbow was elbowing her crazily.

"Hi, you're the new girl, right?" Charlie grinned wide and extended his hand to her.

She nodded slowly, eyeing his hand warily. "Right. I'm Kari, you're Charlie?" She didn't make a move to grasp his hand.

He gave her an odd look-hurt mixed with confusion and slight suspicion-then began to speak. "Yep, and these are my best friends;" He pointed to the mousy haired boy behind him, "this is Gabriel. This one, the one with the crazy hair, is Olivia. Blondie here is Emma."

"Charlie, are you picking on my girlfriend?" A muscular boy in an art-green cloak with electric blue eyes and spiky blonde hair threw his arm over Emma's shoulder. She blushed, snuggling closer into his side. Olivia smirked at them.

"'Course not, Tancred. Just introducing her to the new endowed girl, Kari." Charlie and Tancred did the weird 'bro' high five/hug/handshake thing, Emma looking uncomfortably squished.

Another boy strode toward them, dark skin gleaming against his green cloak. "New girl, huh? I'm Lysander. Good to know there's another one of us." Kari raised an eyebrow.

"Another one of the endowed." Gabriel spoke up softly, smiling gently. She squirmed a bit under the tall boy's gaze.

"Charlie dear, class is about to start. Start showing Kari around, introduce her to more people…maybe Fidelio, or Billy?" Mrs. Bone ran a hand through her son's hair, grinning sheepishly as he swatted her hand away.

Charlie waved bye to the others, then motioned her to follow him. He took the lead, walking a few steps ahead of her. Gabriel fell into stride beside her. Kari hadn't noticed that he hadn't left with all the other freaks.

"So, what do you play?" he spoke suddenly, making her jump a little.

"Alto saxophone." She said shortly.

"I play piano. So, do you like it here?" He asked quietly.

"No."

"Oh." Gabriel fidgeted anxiously, twisting his cape in his fist. He seemed to get the message that conversation was _not_ welcome, and was appearing to be nervous.

They wormed their way between the crowds of cloaked people. The farther they got through the academy, the more Kari realized that all the people around her were wearing blue cloaks almost identical to her own. It was a bit odd, at first, until she remembered that awhile back they had walked under an archway that had been decorated with all sorts of musical instruments. Just another time that she hadn't been paying attention. That tended to happen a lot.

Kari's mood didn't lighten when she noticed that a lot-meaning all-of the people around them were _staring._ Staring at her, Gabriel, but Charlie mostly. The two boys hadn't noticed, or had somehow found a way to ignore it. She couldn't, though, they looked at them with a sort of awed reverence. Can you say creepy?

"So, I'm just gonna assume my parents gave you the same schedule as me. I'll check in a moment, but if you do, we'll have Mrs. Gunner for Math. She's pretty decent, just don't make her too mad, she gets a bit fidgety when she's angry. Then there's Dr. Matthews for Science, nobody knows why we have to call him 'doctor', but he has a fit if you don't. Mr. Rocks teaches History, and you should have already chose a language to study." Charlie, throwing the words over his shoulder, strode confidently threw the crowds. "Can I see your schedule?"

Her footsteps faltered momentarily as she remembered that she had put the little slip of paper away at the very bottom of her trunk, which was…it had been taken away when she had been talking to the Bone's. _Crap, crap. Not good, I mean I could…ugh, fine. _

"Charlie, stop." She halted in the middle of the hall, Gabriel stumbling into her.

The boy stopped, giving her a peculiar look. "I'm not going to steal it or anything."

Kari rolled her eyes, "Is there somewhere close by that is quiet, where no one else will be?"

Gabriel and Charlie exchanged looks. "Yessss, but why?" He replied.

"Just lead the way."

A few moments and a couple of odd looks from the boys later, the little trio was situated in a tiny room. Kari leaned against the cold stone wall, ignoring the others, and concentrated.

She didn't like doing this, using her 'powers'. It was like flaunting her weirdness. But at times like this, where using her powers was just more convenient then going about things like a normal person, she got impatient and gave into temptation.

Her powers worked in a…complex way. Not complex as in step after step after step, but instead it just wasn't-like the rest of her-normal. To use them, she had to concentrate on not concentrating. Her mind had to drift in a way that it was no longer confined to her body. That feeling, that _freedom_, was the most amazing experience in the world-no, the universe! She relished the memories of the time where she never had to feel anything but that…_No! Kariana Tessie Garth, don't you dare! _She shouted mentally at herself. _Never, ever will you let yourself do that again. Think about what you did. You can't do that to people._

The freedom coursed through her, and she fought it back for better control. Back when she had used her powers constantly, she had been able to slip in and out of it easily, and had been able to wield it to do anything she wanted all the time. Now that she hadn't done anything with it in ages, she was rusty.

Her consciousness reached out, brushing against Charlie's and Gabriel's mind. It reached further, and she could feel Emma in the Art section, Olivia dancing around on a stage, Mr. and Mrs. Bone, in an office with a man-who seemed to be the headmaster, Dr. Saltweather-about _her. _

"_Arthur, are you sure she is safe? With her history, I just want to be sure…" Mrs. Bone murmured._

"_We'll have people watching her, Amy. I myself will be with her for quite a while to make sure there is not a repeat of her past." Dr. Saltweather said. He was a very strong man, Kari could tell from the tone in which he thought. She'd have to be careful around him. He'd be a strong opponent to take down, but she was sure she could handle…_

"No!" Her eyes refocused, making her blink rapidly. "I can't be that way again."

"Be _what_ way again?"

Her head snapped up, and she realized that the boys were still there. They were giving her freaked out looks. "Umm, Kari? What was just going on? You just sort of stood there, stared at us, and then you shouted." Gabriel laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing, it was…I was just…nothing." She shrugged him off, feeling the nagging pull of her mind to whisk her back to that conversation. The dark part of her, the part of her that she thought she had locked up, was pushing up against her. "Just let me focus, okay. I need to have a bit more control."

They stared at her.

She let her mind go, reeling it in as fast as she could to just search her own mind. She sifted through her memories, searching for the one that held at least a glimpse of her schedule. There was one about saying goodbye to her parents…no, that was too soon. Kari pushed farther back, falling to another that flashed in front of her eyes.

_Kari sat at her desk, gazing solemnly at the pictures pinned on every last piece of available surface. She fingered one of her favorites, a picture of her friend Kelly and her giving the camera cheesy grins. Good memories like these were what she cherished, to keep away the bad ones. And she knew that this school would bring up the bad ones, every single day._

"_Kari-bear?" Her mother slipped into the room, leaning against the door frame. "Have you started packing yet?" _

_The room was littered with mess, dirty clothes and various electronics scattered across the floor. The closet was closed firmly, the mirror written on, and not a single suitcase was in sight. Kari was in the same spot, same position as she had been the last time her mother had checked on her; a little over an hour ago. _

"_You need to pack, we're leaving tomorrow for the school. You'll want to be ready, of course." Her mom steeped closer, wrapping her arms around Kari's shoulders in a warm, backwards hug._

"_I don't want to go." She whispered, her voice hoarse from not speaking._

"_I know, sweetie, I know. But you'll do good there, learn to control your powers."_

"_I can control my powers." The single sentence was uttered from her mouth without thought, without any realization to the time she was referring to. She felt her mother stiffen behind her, arms going tense with old fear. Fear of her daughter. "I'm sorry, Mama. I didn't mean to bring that up."_

_Her mother's muscles relaxed, but Kari could hear the tremor in the woman's voice. "It's okay, that was a rough time for all of us."_

"_Cousin Manfred said that the other people there, the ones with powers, weren't like us. Said they wouldn't hurt anybody, and they wouldn't accept people like me. People who've…hurt."_

_She could practically feel the anger rippling off of her mother in waves. "When did Manfred say this? In fact, when was the last time you _spoke_ to Manfred?" The deadly calmness in her mother's voice made Kari's spine tingle._

"_A few a years ago, about seven months before his funeral."_

"_I still don't think you should have gone to his funeral. He was an awful person, telling you all those things! He's the reason that…that you…did what you did." Her mother was tense again._

"_He was family, Mama. He understood what it was like."_

"_No, he understood how to bully, and how to make others bullies, too. He was not even decent, and I've never considered anyone related to me through my Uncle Ezekiel as family. The Bloors are not good people."_

"_I'm part Bloor."_

"_Not in that way. And it doesn't matter anyway. The others there will teach you how to be…good, like them." Her mother kissed her cheek and walked out. _

No, not there. Not nearly that far back. She needed to get better control over it, so that she wouldn't be sucked back into memories so easily. If she had gone too far back, had to relive _those_ memories…it would not have ended well.

With a severe push away from the scene, Kari gave one last penetrating search for the schedule. She almost passed by the memory of it, one of her plucking it from a pile of mail.

_**FULL DAY**_

_BREAKFAST 7:00 A.M._

_FIRST CLASS 8:00-9:10 A.M./Mrs. Gunner, Math_

_SECOND CLASS 9:15-10:30 A.M./Dr. Matthew, Science_

_Break 10:35-11:05 A.M._

_THIRD CLASS 11:10 A.M.-12:25 P.M./Mr. Rocks, History_

_LUNCH 12:30-1:30 P.M._

_FOURTH CLASS 1:35-2:50 P.M. /Ms. Teress, French_

_FIFTH CLASS 2:55-4:15 P.M. /Mr. Johnson, Woodwinds_

_Free Time 4:15-5:30 P.M._

_DINNER 5:30-6:30 P.M._

_RED KING ROOM 6:40-8:00 P.M. __**ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED**_

_LIGHTS OUT 9:00 P.M. _

"I have Mrs. Gunner first, then Dr. Matthew, Mr. Rocks, Ms. Terss, then Mr. Johnson." Both the boys jumped when she spoke so suddenly.

"Alriiiight. I'm just gonna have to trust you on that won't I?" Charlie ran a hand through his hair, nudging Gabriel out the door. Kari followed silently, begging whatever existing deity to make this day-and remaining school year-go by fast.

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A/N: So, yeah the first chapter is done. And no, I did not edit it. If there are some errors, I'll be going back through later to make it better. It's kind of choppy, but I did the best for the amount of time I had. The characters maybe bit OOC, like I said before I've never done a fanfic before. I truly have no clue what I'm doing, actually. Follow, favorite, review…all that type of stuff would be really nice, especially the reviews. I really do want to know what you think!


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